World Cup basics

No, I'm not calling you stupid. I don't know as much about the World Cup as I'd like, either. But in a measley 170 words I've managed to give you everything you need to know about the tournament so you'll be informed when it all kicks off. Why waste your time reading long-winded articles or listening to actual experts? I hate listening to experts.
Here we go:

World Cup Basics

32 teams are playing in the tournament held throughout South Africa.
They are broken down into eight groups (four countries in each).
Each team plays one game against the three other nations in their group.
The top two squads from each group then move onto the elimination round based on win-loss record for a total of 16 teams. The tie breaker (if you really want to dig deep) is head-to-head and then goal differential.

The 16 teams then enter a bracket-style, single-elimination playoff (like March Madness).
If the score is tied at the end of regulation (90 minutes plus the time spent spraying players' injuries with Pledge) it goes to a shootout.

The Favorites (in descending order)

Brazil
Spain
England
Argentina (whoot whoot!)
Italy
Germany
Netherlands
France
Ivory Coast
Portugal (oh yeah!)
USA (go guys go!)

Five Players You Need to Know

Wayne Rooney, England
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Lionel Messi, Argentina
Kaka, Brazil
Xavi, Spain

The United States Schedule

Saturday June 12, 2:30 p.m. EST vs. England
Friday June 18, 10:00 a.m. EST vs. Slovenia
Wednesday June 23, 10:00 a.m. EST vs. Algeria

Good luck soccer fans! Both of you…

Check out this site. Cool stuff.

Happiness Remix

I can't turn it off. Since I was given the topic of "being a humble seeker of happiness" for the women's conference talk back at the end of December, I've thought a lot about happiness. I keep thinking about it...I've observed people, asked them questions about what makes them happy and read anything that I come across that has to do with happiness. It's such an interesting topic and of course being happy means different things to different people. Recently I've read three points of view that I thought would be worth sharing. Here are the gems:
From the USA Weekend newspaper magazine -
Want to be happy? Have a conversation. What's important to a happy life are meaningful conversations say researchers at the University of Arizona in Tuscon and Washington University in St. Louis. People who spend less time alone and more time talking meaningfully to others are found to be happier. They found that the happiest participants spend 25% less time alone and 70% more time talking than the unhappiest. Researchers suggest deep conversations may give a sense of meaning in interactions with others, which may make people happier.
From the LDS church news, May 29, 2010-
Most people one would surmise, want to be happy; many spend a lifetime actively seeking happiness. However, the number of individuals who actually achieve that goal seems to be greatly limited. Many people think that the word "pleasure" has the same meaning as the word for "joy" or "happiness". In their pursuit of happiness, they take a route that leads only to pleasure, which, in most cases, has a shorter shelf life than joy or happiness.
Is it not plainly laid out for us in Ecclesiastes 5:10 and 12:13 that those individuals who have true happiness are the ones who not only have faith in the Lord but also obey His commandments and live their lives in a manner that will bless others? Being true to our duty shows that we are true followers of the Lord. Staying true to our duty is the only way to obtain happiness.
From the book I'm currently reading - Three Cups of Tea -
Norberg-Hodge admiringly quotes the king of another Himalayan country, Bhutan, who says that the true measure of a nations' success is not gross national product, but "gross national happiness." On their warm, dry roofs, among the fruits of their successful harvest, eating, smoking, gossiping with a sense of leisure, Mortensen felt that for all they lacked, the Balti still held the key to a kind of uncomplicated happiness that was disappearing in the developing world as fast as old-growth forests. Their happiness sprung from the simple pleasures of good food, good conversation and the attention of family and friends.

I think there are three little nuggets of wisdom in these quotes. True happiness comes from connecting to others in conversation, in making our actions consistent with our knowledge of right and wrong, in performing our duty and serving others and in enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

What do you do when it's 102?

Run for Rex

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

We participated in the 5 K run for Rex on Saturday to help raise some money for medical expenses. KSL did this piece on his story. Rex is the 3 year old grandson of some of our good friends and we went to support them and their little grandson Rex who has an inoperable brain tumor. Rex is the nephew of Taylor R. who is Andy's good friend. It was amazing to see all the community support and love that has been shown to this family. I hope they feel comforted. It's such a hard situation and we pray for them.

Two amazing web sites

If you're just sitting around and want to learn something new, or see something amazing, then check out this web site. Wimp.com. Wow. They post six new videos each day.

If you enjoy playing games, especially word games, brain training games, etc. check out this web site. Sporkle.com. Amazing. Rick especially enjoys it. I think David E. would too.